In Brief
DEPA heading for listing on the Athens Stock Exchange Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas is considering recommending the listing of the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) on the Athens bourse within this year, he said yesterday. He specified that this would be preceded by a new institutional framework deregulating the gas market, which will involve the separation of the gas transmission arm into a separate company. DEPA proper, which will be listed, will be a commercial concern. At the same time, ministers will have to evaluate the Public Power Corporation’s option for a buyout of up to 30 percent of DEPA, which in 2005 posted a 744.49 percent rise in profits to 18.41 million euros, on a 44.23 percent rise in turnover to 615 million. PPC re-emerging as suitor for Bulgarian power plant The Public Power Corporation (PPC) is re-emerging as a likely suitor for the buyout of Bulgaria’s lignite-fired power plant of Bobov Dol, for which it had been the highest bidder in a tender last year but which the government annulled following worker reactions. The country’s supreme administrative court is expected to rule on the legality of the annulment. According to an Athens News Agency wire, Bulgarian Energy Minister Vladimir Yiavkov is reported to have said that PPC has expressed interest in also buying the lignite mine which had been excluded from the original tender. Yiavkov said the mine will go bankrupt if it is not bought by a foreign investor. PPC officials said they were not aware of any interest in Bobov Dol. Cosmote 3G Cosmote’s prepaid cellular telephony («Cosmokarta» and «What’s Up») now includes access to third-generation (3G) services such as video calls and Internet access, as long as subscribers are within the company’s 3G network’s coverage. This includes Attica, Thessaloniki and the other major Greek cities, that is about half of the country’s population, while expanding to new areas as well. Attracting investments Senior representatives of the financial, industrial and investing community will take part in a meeting at the Economy and Finance Ministry next Monday to discuss proposals on how to turn Greece into an international financial center in the Balkans. The ultimate goal is to create an attractive tax environment for financial products in Greece and lift all counterincentives that keep foreign investors away. Turkey inflows Turkish foreign capital inflows surged 239 percent from a year earlier to $9.65 billion in 2005, according to data on the Treasury’s website yesterday. (Reuters) Rhodes Hilton for sale Listed firm Ioniki Hotels, an Alpha Bank subsidiary, is seeking buyers for its Rhodes Hilton hotel, after a decision by its board.
